Dog attack (graphic image)

[MaxiMatt]

Hi everyone,

My chicken was attacked by a dog a couple of days ago. We called the local vet, who recommended cleaning the area with diluted Betadine twice a day. We have trimmed a few of the feathers away as they kept getting stuck in the injury. I have attached a photo from earlier today after we cleaned the wound.

She is drinking water, and she is still eating. She doesn’t appear to be breathing heavily, and her body language is surprisingly unchanged (no drooping wings etc.). To limit her movement and to keep her clean, we have been isolating her in a crate.

Any other advice to help save Missy?

We’re not particularly keen to take her physically to the vet as our experiences in the past have typically been expensive and futile. E.g. our vet kept one of our chickens for four hours to monitor her and suggested sending her to a specialist. We ended up discovering the culprit of her lethargy ourselves: she was riddled with lice (we were still new to keeping chickens at the time).

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! Clean the wound with saline and then let dry, then slather with plain antibiotic ointment. Can you get antibiotic from the vet, amoxicillin? Her wound looks good, but good to have on hand if there is infection. I haven't had lice on my chooks but will tag a couple of experts below. Give her cooked beef, raw yolk, plain and sweetened water, with maple syrup or straight nutri drench to boost her glucose and nutrient levels.

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock please help! 911

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Oh no! Your poor hen! Yes @SmiYa0126 tagged some people that will most likely know what to do. Hopefully they can come help your hen. Please take care of Missy.
I don't have much experience with these things. But always try to keep her as comfortable as can be.

 

[azygous]

Don't trip off any loose skin flaps. Coat the underside well with wound ointment and stretch them over the wound. "Glue" in place with a generous amount of ointment over the top. Don't try to bandage. Keep moist with the ointment or Manuka honey.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Don't trip off any loose skin flaps. Coat the underside well with wound ointment and stretch them over the wound. "Glue" in place with a generous amount of ointment over the top. Don't try to bandage. Keep moist with the ointment or Manuka honey.

@azygous thank you! What about the lice?

 

[azygous]

If I read it right, the lice is an historical issue, no longer relevant.

 

[Eggcessive]

The weak Betadine was fine at first, but I would switch to saline or a wound spray such as Vetericyn to spray on the wound, then use either triple antibiotic Neosporin twice a day to coat the wound. Manuka honey or medihoney is good as well. Leave it open, and eventually, the wound will come together.

 

[MaxiMatt]

Don't trip off any loose skin flaps. Coat the underside well with wound ointment and stretch them over the wound. "Glue" in place with a generous amount of ointment over the top. Don't try to bandage. Keep moist with the ointment or Manuka honey.

Thank you for your advice.

When you say ‘loose skin flaps’ do you mean not to remove any of the membrane that is forming over the wound? It has been difficult not to disturb as she gets feathers in it, which we delicately have to pull off. We trimmed some of them yesterday to avoid this from happening; however, this morning she ended up with little bits of feathers throughout the wound that I then had to painstakingly pull out with fine tweezers. We won’t be trimming any more feathers.

We did remove a thick flap of her skin that was dangling down (we somehow missed it at first because it was tucked at the bottom amongst her feathers). The flap was starting to rot, so we didn’t want it to infect the wound.

Do you have a link to the wound ointment you are referring to? And how do you stop the feathers going into it without a bandage?

 

[MaxiMatt]

Thank

Hello! Clean the wound with saline and then let dry, then slather with plain antibiotic ointment. Can you get antibiotic from the vet, amoxicillin? Her wound looks good, but good to have on hand if there is infection. I haven't had lice on my chooks but will tag a couple of experts below. Give her cooked beef, raw yolk, plain and sweetened water, with maple syrup or straight nutri drench to boost her glucose and nutrient levels.

@azygous @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock please help! 911

Thank you!

 

[MaxiMatt]

Yes, lice was a historical issue. We unfortunately do not have vets in our local area that are confident with chickens.

If I read it right, the lice is an historical issue, no longer relevant.